A photo posted by Elephant Journal (@elephantjournal) on Oct 16, 2016 at 9:03pm PDT

I sing my baby boy to sleep and I I wish I had so much more for him.

I wish I had a different, better world to welcome him into.

But the place I dream of—that place of partnership and honest understanding—it’s waiting for us, baby. I don’t know when or if we’ll ever get there—in reality or our dreams, the next universe or the one hiding behind this one, or in the multiple realities sliding along our atoms. Wherever that peaceable understanding is, that great love, it’s worth fighting for.

It’s an ideal worth being called an idealist for. It’s all we have. Hope in raw form. And the fighting flame within us that says we can be better. We can do better. We can rise, like light, like storm, like feather, like smoke. We can rise. We can be so much better. Let’s hope for that. Let’s fight for that.

You deserve it, baby—the clear blue sky. And I do too. We all do. We, the people. Of the united nation we all are stewards of. Of the beating heart of this species we are evolving into. The humanity that is worthy of this planet.

But how do I find that place in a world on fire? How do I keep fighting the good fight when the path no longer seems visible?

It’s difficult. It’s difficult to live here in this world of ours right now. This world of too much information, too much horror, too much to see. It’s difficult to keep your head up whilst being attacked by a barrage of things you feel helpless to make better.

There are so many things I wish I could really change, could really help with, but I have found myself useless in the face of them many times. And so often more knowledge just leads to more angst. But ignorance is not the answer. We just have to find some way to bear this weight. To carry it and to honor it and to try to cast light on it. To transform it with bare hands and no instructions or qualifications.

We must drag hope out from the deepest recesses of our bones and we must carry it like a banner through all the winds that whip. We must not let go of this brilliant hope that burns deeper than reason—the hope of a future that glows.

We’re rolling the ball forward slowly, but it is back-breaking work. And it is forward. Those interested in somehow moving us backwards convince themselves that they can actually turn the wheel backwards, but they are only stalling us briefly or placing a momentary hurdle in front of us. We just have to heave harder. But we are progressing. We are evolving.

So, my baby, I must keep cultivating this strong soldier inside of myself. To fight for what is right, regardless of how the world sways. What is right is right regardless. What is true and honest and real is always worth fighting for.

I must keep cultivating patience—although it is difficult in this world, these days.

I must keep cultivating faith—that the truth will out. That sanity will prevail and that justice has a place in this world. That humans are more intelligent than some give us credit for and that deep down, at the center, the heart of life is good. And we all beat from that heart.

I have to admit, sometimes the rhetoric and the violence and the carelessness makes me profoundly sad. And yet, it gives the rest of us clarity. And direction. And something to fight for.

So we must fight. In every small way, every large way, every brave way. We must drag this holy well of hope we have within ourselves to the light. Hope is all we have. Hope that we can get ourselves together and start caring about the world. Really caring.

Fighting means speaking out. Getting involved. Seeking out truth. Flying high past petty negativity. Transforming our lives. Looking inwards. Reaching outwards. Having hope. Holding the fire of this world in our hearts, Not letting the fire of this world singe our perfect hearts. Soldiering on, with bright eyes and bold bodies—toward that better world.

Toward that sacred community we all deserve.
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“The warrior should be sad and tender, and because of that, the warrior can be very brave as well.”
~ Chögyam Trungpa

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Bonus video: Want to help the world? Here’s How.

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Author: Lauren Suchenski

Image: @elephantjournal on Instagram

Editor: Khara-Jade Warren